Characters change when we print/convert to PDF

[tsk]

In our small office, several of us send Word documents and files to one
person, who then uses them for print and Web purposes. Lately, when she
converts a Word doc into a PDF or prints, certain characters change. For
instance, bullets changed into question marks in a PDF. Today she printed a
document that had one kind of arrow, and they changed to another kind (the
wrong kind, pointing the wrong way). A bullet changed into what looked like
some sort of Greek symbol. She tried to print out a PowerPoint handout, and
the bullets turned into something else.

There has to be a way to fix this and it's vital that we do, but I don't
know where the problem lies. Is it in Office, or her printer, or where? I'm
not a techie--please help!

 

[Echo S]

In our small office, several of us send Word documents and files to
one person, who then uses them for print and Web purposes. Lately,
when she converts a Word doc into a PDF or prints, certain characters
change. For instance, bullets changed into question marks in a PDF.
Today she printed a document that had one kind of arrow, and they
changed to another kind (the wrong kind, pointing the wrong way). A
bullet changed into what looked like some sort of Greek symbol. She
tried to print out a PowerPoint handout, and the bullets turned into
something else.

There has to be a way to fix this and it's vital that we do, but I
don't know where the problem lies. Is it in Office, or her printer,
or where? I'm not a techie--please help!

Please help me understand here -- do the symbols change when you print to a
printer or when you print to PDF? Or both?

Also, which version of Word, which version of Acrobat, and which version of
Windows? And what fonts is she using for the bullets and other characters
that change?

And finally, "print out a PowerPoint handout" means a lot of things to a lot
of people. Since we can't see over your shoulder to observe what you and
your colleague are doing, can you be specific as to what you mean here? Do
you mean File/Print/Print Handout and print to a printer, or do you mean
something else? Same question re fonts applies here, too.

 

[JoAnn Paules [MSFT MVP]]

What font did she use for those bullets? It could be that font can't be
embedded in the .pdf file.

 

[tsk]

In a few cases she used Arial, and a couple of times the bullets appear to
have come from the "Insert Character" file, and I think they were actual
Symbols. I guess I can see how the Symbol characters might not work
everywhere. Arial is our standard font in the office; we also use a lot of
Times New Roman.

What font did she use for those bullets? It could be that font can't be
embedded in the .pdf file.

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

In our small office, several of us send Word documents and files to one
person, who then uses them for print and Web purposes. Lately, when she
converts a Word doc into a PDF or prints, certain characters change. For
instance, bullets changed into question marks in a PDF. Today she printed
a
document that had one kind of arrow, and they changed to another kind (the
wrong kind, pointing the wrong way). A bullet changed into what looked
like
some sort of Greek symbol. She tried to print out a PowerPoint handout,
and
the bullets turned into something else.

There has to be a way to fix this and it's vital that we do, but I don't
know where the problem lies. Is it in Office, or her printer, or where?
I'm
not a techie--please help!